"The Basics"
Understanding the Behavior of Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (LNAPLs) in the Subsurface

The Remediation Technologies Development Forum (RTDF) Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL) Cleanup Alliance has prepared this course on light non-aqueous phase liquids, or LNAPLs, and their impacts in the subsurface. This course provides a basic description of the behavior of LNAPLs (specifically, petroleum hydrocarbon liquids) in the subsurface. It helps explain what many have observed in the field for years: As LNAPLs are removed from the subsurface, LNAPLs remaining are increasingly difficult to recover. The training presents the technical concepts involved in LNAPL behavior, discusses the application of these concepts to real world situations, and explores how heterogeneity and other factors affect LNAPL behavior and complicate recovery. This training will be particularly useful to: Regulators who evaluate work plans and recommend LNAPL remedial strategies; hydrogeologists who make quantitative predictions about LNAPL volume, migration, and recovery to support these recommendations; and anyone who needs basic information about the nature of petroleum hydrocarbons in the subsurface.